Secrets of the Rangers

By: ShadeSilverbat

All right people, you know the drill. I do not own the characters from Rescue Rangers except for my OC's which won't be in this story yet. You have permission to use them, yada yada yada, blah blah blah. You get the point. Now, for the brief info, This is a series of stories that revolve around the darkest secrets of the rescue rangers team. This was a concept that was nagging at me for a while so I thought, might as well write it down and maybe it will be useful. Turns out underneath all this playful cuddliness that is I, there is a sick mind that likes to come up with the strangest of scenarios for the most innocent of characters. So without further ado. I give you, Secrets of the Rangers. Part 1: Foxy Bites. A story about what life would be like for the rangers if Foxglove was a carnivorous bat. Which doesnt seem to strange if you think about it. There are actually 4 types of Carnivorous bats that eat meat and can be cannibalistic as well. So it fits...I think. o3o

It was a boring day at Rangers HQ. No tasks had come in at all that day and the gang were all sitting in the main room being, well, them. Dale was sitting on the couch reading his usual comic books. Chip was sitting at the table listening to the radio as he fumbled with a few of his tools. Gadget was working on a new gadget of her's while Foxglove was roosting above her, helping her out with anything she needed. Meanwhile Monterrey Jack was busy eating a grilled cheese sandwich that he had made. As for Zipper, he was sitting with Dale.

Little did they know that their entire world would change as they begin to learn each others darkest secrets starting with everyone's favorite little bat. The following hours would ultimately change her life forever with the rangers as her darkest secret was to be revealed. The secret of how such an innocent looking little bat would later be known as a brutal murderer that happens to be useful for once.

Dale was busy reading that night. He had gotten far in a small little book that was all about bats. "Gee...there's so many kinds. I wonder what type Foxglove is. Hmm...she looks different than most of the bats around here." He said as he flipped through the pages. Once he had gone through the whole section of fruit bats, he was confused. "Well...she's not a fruit bat. But then what is she?" He turned the next page which lead into the chapter all about insectivores. There was one type that seemed close, but was still not quite right. It had a leaf nose instead of Foxgloves nose. Dale was puzzled as to why he couldn't figure this out. Upon turning the to the next chapter, he read the title and chuckled. "No...she couldn't possibly be one of these." He thought as he looked at the pictures of Carnivorous bats.

As he flipped through and read bit by bit, he saw a very familiar bat in the pages. "Is that? No...it can't be. It...looks like Foxglove! She's a Ghost bat!?" He said out loud in surprise. The more he read the more he started to wonder. "A carnivorous bat that is...cannibalistic towards other bats, very friendly towards friends, and gruesome to anything smaller than they are...but...that's not Foxglove at all. Hmm...I'll have to spy on her. Looks like its time for ol' Dale to put on his secret agent face." He said to himself as his more playful side started coming back to him.

He sat there in his bed, trying his best not to fall asleep. For what seemed like hours he waited and was just about to nod off till he heard the door creak open lightly. He blinked and stared as he secretly watched a figure walk in and head towards the bathroom. 'Why is she home so late? I know she can't be one of those things. She wouldn't hurt a fly...and...whats that smell?' he wondered to himself. He laid there and watched as she walked right into the bathroom. The light flicked on and Dale almost choked at what he saw. Foxglove was standing in the mirror with a smug little satisfied grin...that was bloodstained. She had a distended belly which meant she had recently eaten something rather large. But to make things worse, she was holding what looked like a shredded up shirt, one of the ones that looked disturbingly similar to the ones that she had given him before as presents.

"Ugh...I'm a mess...well...better clean up. Last thing I need is for Dale to see me like this. I'd never hear the end of it. Vampire this, monster that. Grrr...sometimes I wish he'd stop reading those silly little comic books of his. There so...offensive. Oh well. My little cutie wouldn't be as special if he were any different I guess." She said as she looked back with a small smile before she turned on the water and closed the door.

Dale's heart was pounding. He looked at the shirts hanging in his closet and gagged as he wondered if they too belonged to others that she had eaten. '*Urk* Sh-she-she ate someone! Get it together Dale, she wouldn't hurt you...would she? Well...at least she's not a vampire. *Ulp* But she sure is a monster...of sorts. No! She's not a monster. Why...why am I acting like this? She's still the same old Foxglove. Only...she could...eat me...if I make her really angry...' His thoughts raced through his mind as he laid there. But one kept running in his head over and over. 'Should I confront her? Should I ignore this? What about the others? They need to know. But then...what if...No! She would never hurt them. What do I do!?'

The water turned off in the bathroom and once the door opened, she tossed the tattered shirt to the side next to some of the other clothes that she had 'gotten him' as presents. However the biggest difference was that once she started towards the bed, it started to smell like the usual cherry scent that she usually had. Dale wondered how she pulled that off. She then slipped into the bed instead of roosting like she normally would. Then again, she always slept in the bed whenever she came home late. 'Its now or never Dale. Come on, you can do this. Just, open your mouth. Say something!' He was about to turn in the bed before he felt her wing wrap over him in a hug, making him flinch. "Uh...something." 'you idiot thats not what I meant!'

Foxglove blinked and chuckled as she looked at him with a fake yawn. "Huh? Whats wrong cutie? You look like you've seen a ghost." She said playfully. "I um...Foxy. I did...and it was you." Dale said as he sat up in the bed and turned the light on. Foxglove blinked and frowned. "You found out huh? How long have you known..." She asked as she looked away ashamed. Dale was surprised to her reaction, in honesty he actually expected her to attack him or try to hide it with some kind of lie. "Actually Foxy, I barely learned it tonight. I was reading you see. My big book here. Its all about bats. And I wanted to know what you were so I tried to find a picture of a bat like you but I couldnt find them. So...I kept looking...and found out you were a ghost bat. Why Foxglove? Why didn't you tell us? Why didn't you tell me?" He asked

She let out a deep heavy sigh. "Because I was afraid you or Chip or one of the others were going to report me or something Dale. I was scared." She said as she turned away with a tear in her eye. "I didn't want to get thrown out. I didn't want to lose you." Dale felt horrible once he heard this. It was as if he had become the monster and poor little Foxglove was the victim here. "We would never do that to you Foxglove. I wouldn't let that happen. We love you a lot. But to keep a secret like that from us...I don't know what to say. I still love you Foxy, but I don't know how Chip, Gadget or anyone for that matter will react." He said as he placed a hand on her shoulder.

She looked at him and smiled with a tear in her eye. "Do you really mean that Dale? You...you forgive me? Wait a second...you were reading a real book!?" Foxglove exclaimed. Dale blinked and chuckled. "Surprise? I read more than just my comics Foxy. Why do you think I'm such a great writer? I just don't like people to see me. I think its embarrassing." He said with a blush. They both sat there and smiled before they started to laugh. "Dale. What does this mean? I...I don't want to go away just because of this. Can you forgive me?" She asked.

Dale sat there and thought really hard. He knew he loved Foxglove and for some reason this wasn't bothering him as much as he thought it would. He looked at her face, then his attention was drawn to her belly which was probably full of some poor mouse or something, then he looked at all the shirts she gave him, but his attention was drawn back to a photo of the entire Ranger crew in one big photo with Foxglove in it."Your secret is safe with me Foxy, but you have to promise me you won't give me any more shirts from your um...your meals...and you have to tell the other eventually." He said. Foxglove gave him the biggest grin and suddenly leaped at him. He flinched at first which startled Foxglove with his reaction, but he let out a sigh of relief when he realized she was just hugging him instead of chewing him to bits. "This is going to take some getting used to..." He said with a nervous chuckle while she gave him a gentle kiss. "Oh Dale, you know I would never hurt you no matter how good you taste." She then blinked at her own words and Dale nervously chuckled again. "yeah, this is gonna take some time."

The following morning Dale woke up to find Foxglove was gone. "Hmm...where did she go?" He wondered out loud. He got up and and started down the stairs before Chip yelled his name the loudest he had ever done before. "Uh oh...that can't be good." Upon walking to the bottom, he turned to look into the main room and saw the gang sitting around a table, with a very sad looking Foxglove sitting silently in a seat farthest from the others. 'Oh no...this can't be good.' They all looked upset for the most part. Yet, for some odd reason Gadget was the only one who seemed perfectly fine with everything.

"Dale, we just heard a very interesting story from our flying friend over there." Chip said aggressively. Dale didn't like the fact that he didn't even make an effort to try to say Foxglove's name. "How long have you known Dale?" He asked suddenly. Dale looked at Chip, then to Gadget, followed my Jack, then Zipper. Then he looked over at Foxglove, then to the floor and back to Chip. "I barely learned last night Chip. Leave her alone. She's still the same ol Foxglove." Dale said with a slight anger to his tone. This surprised everyone since Dale was almost never aggressive towards anything. "She is my friend and she is my mate and I don't care what she is or what you think about her. I still love her no matter what." He said as he stood up and walked over to Foxglove to comfort her.

Chip had never seen this side of Dale before and he sighed. "Dale, she is a cold blooded killer. We have to report her. She could turn on us any second." Foxglove gasped at this and started to tear up before she began to cry. Gadget looked at Chip with disbelief, and Monterrey Jack was just as shocked. Zipper however could have cared less. He was too caught up in his marshmallow to notice. Dale gasped and turned to Chip with a shocked look. "Chip! That was the worst thing you have ever said! She would never hurt us! If anything its you who hurt her!" He said as he held her in a hug, which calmed her down slightly.

Gadget looked at Chip and shook her head. "Golly Chip. That was...well...not like you one bit." She then got up and walked away, still in disbelief as she went over to help Dale calm foxglove down. Monterrey Jack just looked at them all and thought nothing of it. "You blokes do realize that this is going nowhere right?" Chip looked at Jack and sighed as he looked back at the three others. "Look, Dale, I'm sorry that was out of line. I should have never said that." Dale looked up at Chip with a cold glare. "Your right. You shouldn't have said that. In fact you shouldn't have said anything at all. If I could forgive her. Then why can't you? I'm more afraid of things like monsters and stuff than anyone else here but I can still forgive Foxglove. Leave us alone Chip." He then helped Foxglove up and Gadget watched as the two walked to the door. Foxglove looked back one last time before the door slammed shut behind them as they left. "Chip! Go after them! You need to make this right!" Gadget scolded him. Chip let out a deep and heavy sigh. "What have I done..." He then ran to the door and ventured off after them.

Later that night, everyone seemed to have calmed down. Foxglove was allowed to stay, as long as she didn't hurt or put any of the rangers in danger. Dale had forgave Chip, and so two of the many secrets were revealed. Most of the rangers were off to bed. The only two that were still up were Gadget and Foxglove. The two sat in the main room, talking. It was possibly the most awkward conversation in the history of awkward conversations.

"So...Foxglove, how long have you...um...you know. Been going out for dinner?" Gadget asked with a bit of embarrassment. "I..don't really want to talk about it." Foxglove said with a smirk. "Its ok Foxglove. Golly if I had known about this sooner I would have completely ignored it." Gadget said with a chuckle. "Besides, its not like your gonna scare me. Well...maybe a little. But that's normal for any mouse I guess." She said with a soft smile. Foxglove just looked at her and grinned. "I learned to hunt at a early age. Most of my meals tend to be mice. I find them easier to catch and they don't put up that much of a fight." Foxglove said with a smile. Gadget fell silent for a second and nervously laughed. "Oh...I guess it does help to be able to fly then right? Heheh...umm...how about when you fly. How can you hear or see anything with so much wind in the way." She asked. Foxglove smiled. "Simple. Big ears make it easier to hear things far away. From little bugs scattering across the floor, to the heart beat of a hiding snack." She then blinked and sighed. "This is making me feel uncomfortable Gadget. Can we not talk about this." Foxglove asked. "Sorry Foxglove, I was just curious. I don't know why but I've always been fascinated by predators. I'm just never close enough to them to study them." Gadget said as she gove Foxglove a small smile.

Foxglove and Gadget sat there for quite a long time. For the most part it was awkward silence or they would exchange a slight laugh every now and then as they watched a funny cartoon. Soon they had fallen asleep at the end of their show. The ranger alarm went off at the time. Chip, Dale, Jack, and Zipper all came running, only to see Foxglove and Gadget fast asleep on the couch. Lucky for the two girls it was just a simple mission. Help guard a rare gem that Fat Cat's gang were going to try to steal. Luckily it was already heavily guarded so they didn't need the whole team that day.

Around noon, Gadget woke up to find herself leaning on Foxgloves shoulder. She immediately got up and blushed before she looked around. It didn't take long for her to realize that everyone else but Foxglove was gone. "Foxglove, time to wake up. Come on we overslept. Everyone is gone." She poked the bat with a small rod just in case. Foxglove didn't like to be woken up by anyone other than Dale. "Mph...stop poking me..." She muttered as she rolled over on the couch. Gadget chuckled and gave her one last poke. Foxglove hissed and got up with a look of frustration. "What!? Why are you poking me with a stick!? What is so important that you have to wake me up?" Her reaction scared Gadget enough to make the little mouse fall down. "Sorry Foxglove, but, everyone is gone. We overslept. They all went on a mission without us. I guess they decided to let us sleep." Foxglove rubbed her eyes and looked around. "Oh...sorry Gadget. I'm not used to anyone waking me up. Usually its Dale who does." She said with a soft voice and a calm attitude. "Its ok Foxglove. Everyone knows that but this is kinda important. Everyone left and well. Were here alone now." Gadget said with a slight chuckle.

For part of the day they spent their time away from each other for the most part. Foxglove was inside her room, fixing up some of the shirts that Dale had ripped and torn on mission. She had also decided to take away every shirt that belonged to others that she gave to him. Gadget was busy sitting in her workroom, fixing up a few of her toys and gizmos like always. Pretty soon Gadget managed to fix up all of the ranger gear and made a few others, while Foxglove completely stitched up every last piece of Dale's shirts.

While walking the hall to the main room they bumped into each other. Gadget accidentally knocked Foxglove down when she walked into the hall. "Sorry Foxglove! Are you ok? I didn't break anything did I?" Gadget asked in a worried tone. "Its ok Gadget. You didn't break anything. I'm tough as nails. You just startled me is all." Gadget smiled and helped her flying friend up. They walked into the main room and sat down. "Hey Gadget are you going to be ok if I left you here alone?" Foxglove asked. "Why wouldn't I be?" Foxglove turned away and sighed. "Well, I'm getting a bit hungry and well I'm gonna have to go out and hunt soon." Gadget nervously smiled. "Well, if you have to do it, then, you got to do what you have to. I um...I will be perfectly fine...just um...Foxglove." Foxglove looked back. "Yes?" Gadget let out a deep sigh. "Never mind. I don't want to make things difficult for you." She said. The bat tilted her head. "What, whats wrong?" She asked. Gadget sighed. "I was gonna ask if you could promise not to um...eat any mice." Foxglove blinked and chuckled. "You know I can't make that kind of promise Gadget. But your missing the point. I don't just eat anyone. I always go after repeat troublemakers. If I catch them doing something for the first time I let them go. If they keep doing it, well. There's only one place for them to go." Foxglove said with a smug grin. "Foxglove your a genius. Its kinda sadistic and well. Sort of disturbing, but its still brilliant. If you need any help, I know of this little place where there's always a group of idiots who cause all kinds of trouble. Jack and I have tried to stop them two years ago but, it didn't work out too well. Oh but if you do go there you have to be careful of the innocent people too." Gadget then blinked and blushed as she realized she was helping a predator catch her next meal. "Hey...you broke your arm two years ago after coming from there. They didn't do that...did they Gadget?" Foxglove asked with concern. Gadget sighed and rubbed her arm from an old memory. "They did...it was horrible. It hurt so bad...and I couldn't do anything for a long time. I'm glad that's over though." The little mouse said with a soft tone. Foxglove grinned. "Oh I'll make sure whoever did it won't ever hurt anyone again." She said with a somewhat dark tone.

For a full hour Gadget sat there and watched the TV. She was watching a funny horror movie. A scary part was just about to happen and just before it did. Foxglove tapped Gadget on the shoulder. "AHHHH!" She jumped out of her seat and fell on the floor. "Don't do that!" She cried out as she saw who it was. Laughter was going on in the TV. Once again she had come home with a full belly and a bloody mess all over herself. "Sorry Gadget. I was just going to let you know I was home." Gadget saw this and nervously chuckled. "Is um...that..." "Blood?" Foxglove finished. "Yes. I caught the one who broke your arm. He was so sorry he said. He would never do it again he said. Started crying. I almost felt bad for him. Almost...but a girls gotta eat. I made it quick and painless. The rest of those brats shouldn't bother anyone else either." She licked her lips and walked towards the stairway. "Gadget, may I use your shower to clean up? I think I ran out of soap in my room." Gadget just simply looked at Foxglove and nodded un-confidently. Just the thought of going in her shower to find a piece of something that used to be part of someone creeped its way into Gadget's mind. It was simply ignored however. She sat there and wondered just how this was going to work out amongst the rangers. It was not going to be easy and adjusting to this sudden change was going to be difficult. But Gadget knew it could be done. Besides. Her secret was far more complex than Foxglove's.

To be continued...